The present invention pertains to an emulator adapted to be operably connected to the brake pedal of a vehicle and including an elastomer spring member and Hall effect brake pedal travel and force sensors.
In the development of electrically controlled brake systems for wheeled vehicles and the like, it has been deemed necessary to develop emulators which provide the xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d of conventional brake pedals for brake systems of the prior art. In particular, for automobile brake systems, it has been deemed desirable to provide a brake pedal emulator which will provide to the vehicle operator the same feel or resistance to movement of the brake pedal as the operator is used to experiencing with a conventional hydraulic brake system. In this regard, elastomer spring type pedal feel emulators have been developed. However, electrically controlled brake systems also require signals related to the forces exerted on the brake pedal and pedal travel distance so as to provide suitable signals used for actuating the braking systems.
Externally mounted braking force and brake pedal travel sensors further complicate electrically controlled braking systems. With the development of elastomer spring based emulators for creating a suitable feel or sensation related to the force and travel of a brake pedal, it has been deemed desirable to use the basic concept of such an emulator to include brake pedal force and brake pedal travel sensors or signal generators operable to provide signals useful for certain electrically controlled brake systems. Accordingly, integration of force and travel sensors into a brake pedal emulator is considered desirable and it is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.
The present invention provides an improved brake pedal emulator for a motor vehicle brake system.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention a brake pedal xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d emulator is provided which includes an elastomer spring interposed first and second pistons disposed in an emulator cylinder housing. The elastomer spring advantageously encapsulates or comprises one or more magnets for generating magnetic fields which are sensed by separate sensors. The sensors are operable to generate electrical signals related to changes in the intensity and/or direction of the magnetic fields to provide signals to a brake control system which are related to the braking effort applied to the vehicle brake pedal by the vehicle operator.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention a brake pedal feel emulator is provided which includes a Hall effect sensor for sensing brake pedal travel and for communicating signals to a signal conditioning circuit and a controller. Still further, the invention provides a brake pedal feel emulator which includes a second Hall effect sensor for providing signals proportional to the force applied to the brake pedal and the emulator. Signals generated by both Hall effect sensors are transmitted to signal conditioning circuits and to a controller for controlling actuation of a vehicle brake system.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above noted advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawing.